1. Field of Art
The present disclosure relates to a mobile device and a method of presenting static and dynamic data corresponding to a database entity within an application on a mobile device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Applications that manage contacts and related static information currently exist in personal computers, instant messenger services, e-mail services, smart phones, and certain web-based services. Such static information includes contact details such as names, addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, and instant messenger identifiers. Typically, a user may select, e.g., click, on a telephone number, which then connects the user to a separate phone application or service that then dials the number. Alternately, the user may click on an e-mail address which launches a separate e-mail application, which enables the user to send an e-mail to the chosen contact from within the separate e-mail application.
Additionally, there are applications that manage dynamic data related to contacts, data that are time-sensitive in nature. For example, an instant messaging application or an e-mail application may provide dynamic data such as online availability of a chosen contact at a particular point in time.
In order for a user to determine if a chosen contact is available online for instant messaging, the user may click on an instant message identifier for the chosen contact to launch a separate instant messaging service to then locate the chosen contact within the service. Hence, the determination of the user's online availability happens within a separate application. Alternately, the user may launch an instant messaging service, such as an AOL instant messaging (AIM) service, directly and locate the chosen contact within the list of the user's favorite contacts or “buddies” to determine whether the chosen contact is online at that moment. Despite the availability of an AOL “buddy” for instant messaging purposes, a separate e-mail application would need to be launched in order to send an e-mail to the same AOL “buddy” since the instant messaging service and the e-mail service bear no relationship to each other.
Currently, applications exist that bring contact information, blogs, and pictures into an instant messaging application but such applications are web-based and contacts are typically not looked up using a web browser. Separate applications are launched for dynamic data specific to each different type of static data. For example, an e-mail application such as Microsoft Outlook does not show the weather at the location of a contact within the application, rather, the user must separately inquire for that data within, for example, a web site. Thus, true integration of disparate contact-based data has not been achieved on computing devices.
In general, in order for the user to connect to a contact listed in a contacts application, the user is forced to select different types of static data related to a contact to launch one of several separate applications to access dynamic data specific to the selected type of static data. Such an approach is time-consuming and cumbersome especially when the user needs to connect to several contacts which necessitates that the user repeatedly locate each of these contacts in separate applications.
The other significant drawback to accessing various separate applications for dynamic data specific to the selected type of static data is that the user is forced to switch between multiple presentation views for each contact, one for each type of static data related to the contact and each separate application that is launched to access dynamic data related to the contact. When the user clicks on an AIM link, the current view is replaced by an application view for AIM showing the contact. Owing to the multitude of different types of static data associated with a single contact, the user is forced to click on each type of data or link to launch (or execute) one of many separate applications to access dynamic data corresponding to each type of static data, which further compounds the problem.
Owing to the time-sensitive nature of certain types of contact-specific dynamic data, such as online status in an instant messaging service, the user is forced to connect to the service repeatedly at various instances of time to determine the online status of the same contact. Hence, the other significant drawback to launching separate applications to access dynamic data tied to static data related to contacts is the need to constantly refresh either the view or the dynamic data from these separate applications.
Furthermore, if the user inadvertently terminates an instant messaging service launched in response to the user selecting a contact's instant messaging identifier from the contacts application, the user has no alternative but to re-connect to the instant messaging service and locate the contact again.
Thus, the art lacks, inter alia, configurations in which static data related to contacts within an application executed on a computing device is combined with dynamic data all within a contacts application.